Another Change of Plans and 50 States Completed!

Friday, August 20,2021

As with everything this week the plan changed today.  I was supposed to do Nevada today and Utah tomorrow.  But the forecast for tomorrow is for showers and thunderstorms possible in the afternoons which made me adjust and get both today.  So, this afternoon at 4:31 MDT, I completed this quest that effectively began a little over 60 years ago when for the first time I took a longer than 10 mile bike ride as a kid.  I didn't think about it then, but when I began the quest to ride in all 50 states, that ride (I can't remember specifically what ride it was) gave me retroactively New Jersey as the first state that qualified toward the goal of riding in every state.

As my two posts from Wednesday showed, it was a good thing that I got Colorado checked off while in Fort Collins because a new heavy rainstorm closed the highway to Glenwood Springs again.  So yesterday was another nearly 500 mile drive—Fort Collins to Salt Lake City.  The car had a maintenance needed light go on en route so I ended up having to swap it for another car at the Salt Lake airport after going to the hotel and unloading everything into my room (except the bike—I wanted to make sure it fit in the back of the replacement car), going to the airport to get the new car, then reorganizing everything and partially reloading the car last night, finishing up this morning.

Nevada Ride

Then it was off to West Wendover, Nevada about two hours west of Salt Lake City.  For miles I drove past the salt flats south of the lake.  (For my train oriented friends I saw the old WP for miles and miles and all of one train!)

Almost two hours crossing the Great Salt Basin

The Salt Flats--that isn't snow!

The Nevada ride sure wasn’t easy!  West Wendover (I’ll call it WW from here on to reduce the amount of typing) is a town with two primary industries—mining and tourism (casinos).  First I rode over to the Nevada/Utah line—the Utah town is simply Wendover.  There is no gambling there, or anywhere in Utah for that matter.

 

The border, better known as the "Stateline"

Then I rode out to the west of WW on what at one time before I-80 was the main road.  For over three miles I climbed a hill that went up at a constant 5-7 percent rate.  I climb hills like that around home, but none as long as this one.  I had to stop three times to drink and take a breather.  I was climbing at about 6 mph (which accounts for my slow average for the whole ride). The ride back down was great as I cruised at over 30 miles per hour downhill. 

The long uphill slog (ugh!)

The fast downhill (Yipee!)

Next I wound through some neighborhoods.  Some are very nice.  Some not as good.  When I finished back at the WW welcome center, the lady who runs it came out and she took my picture which is below.

I also took some pictures from WW showing a variety of neighborhoods in the western part of WW.  The lady at the visitors center, in response to my question, said that the most upscale homes, generally belong to those who work in the mining industry, or casino "moguls" not the casino workers.

 

 I was surprised that bike lanes even on residential streets were so well marked (especially considering the lack of cyclists) at least during my ride.

For those of you who would like to see the data from my 12 mile ride for my 49th state, you can see it here

Just before beginning the climb I passed a WW icon—the tall statue of Wendover Will—which as a former resident of Texas immediately made me think of Big Tex at the State Fair in Dallas.  Wendover Will was put up in 1952 by the owner of the Stateline Hotel and Casino to promote his building.  At the time Wendover Will was the largest  mechanical cowboy in the world and besides having neon lights has arms also waved.  When the casino was sold in 2002 Wendover Will was given to WW and moved there. 

Wendover Will welcomes you to West Wendover

 

You can read more about him at The Story of Wendover Will

Utah Ride 

After my Nevada ride was complete it was back across the Great Salt Basin to Salt Lake City.  Unlike in the morning, there were people with their cars out on the salt flats, but I couldn't get a picture.  This is also the area of the Bonneville Salt Flats where many land speed records have been set.

The Front Runner commuter train runs from Provo, up to Salt Lake City, and then onto Ogden.  I parked at one of the station, Layton, about midway between Salt Lake and Ogden.  There I rode about a half mile to the D&RGW Bike Trail (named for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad who ran trains over this route.
When they were purchased by the Union Pacific, which owns a parallel line, the D&RGW line was no longer needed by the UP, was abandoned as a railroad, and become a bicycle trail which runs all the way from the Ogden Area to just outside of Salt Lake City.

The trail was well maintained, but not nearly as scenic as others I’ve ridden.  The first seven or eight miles were what is known to cyclists as a “false flat”.  It looks flat, but is actually a very slight upgrade which soon becomes evident ,not necessarily visually, but you can feel it in your legs.  Entering each town along the trail, homage is paid to the railroad for whom the trail is named. 

My Garmin knows where I am

 

The first part was paved with some type of concrete based aggregate. 
It made for a nice smooth ride.

The more northerly part was blacktop.

The center of the sign is the old D&RGW logo

Besides a lack of great scenic value, the biggest issue is the number of road crossings.  The crossings are not the issue per se.  What makes them difficult is the two offset gates to prevent motorized vehicles from entering the trail.  However, these force cyclists to wend their way through by nearly creeping to a halt before crossing the street (most of the street crossings did have a button activated light to stop car traffic and let trail users cross) and then have to do it again on the opposite side to resume the trip on the trail.

With the double gating you have to twist your way through

 

The trail flattened out over the last four miles so I was able to pick up some speed, especially because there was not too much trail usage mid-afternoon when I took my ride.  At one road crossing,the center of the road was dug up for, I think, utility work.  There was no way to cross so trail users had to divert for several blocks to get to a place to cross and back to the trail.  Just as I was wondering why there were no port-a-potties on this trail, I looked up a branch that ran off the trail and there it was--not just a port-a-potty but a whole bathroom building.  A welcome sight!

Relief comes in style on the D&RGW.
Much better than on most DC Area trails.

I arrived at Roy station, which was just slightly east of the trail, at 4:31 p.m. MDT, marking the completion of my bicycle ride that completed my 50^th state.   I bought my senior citizen ticket for the whopping sum of $1.55!  It pays to have a Medicare card.  When the conductor came through the train I reached into my pocket for my ticket and he just shook his head and walked by never seeing if I really had it.

Who is Roy anyway?

Not only does it take credit cards
but it also takes something almost unheard of these days---cash

I asked a person waiting for the train to take my picture to commemorate the completion of my quest.  So here I am wearing the shirt of one of the tour companies that I rode with twice, including the cross-country ride that I did not complete.  But because I have now completed rides in each of the 50 states, I thought that the jersey with the company’s name, America By Bicycle, is an appropriate description of what I have finally completed.

And if you remember, part of the goal was to complete all 50 states by my 70th birthday.  The pandemic interfered last year with that so I simply put my 70th birthday on hold at that time!  So now, a week before my 71st birthday, I can finally celebrate my 70th!

If you want to see the data of the final state pursuit ride here it is .

Mission Accomplished!

Front Runner

I waited about 15 minutes for the train back to Layton (it was going all the way to Provo). When it came I noticed that some of the cars were marked as “bicycle friendly”.  And indeed they were.  

 

On the lower level of the car were three simple to use bike racks that each held three bikes. I think there were two such cars on the train.  As you can see from the photo, you simply place one of the wheels of the bike in the channel and it sits there until you roll it out easily when you approach your station.

My bike resting on the trip back

Simple design.  Very effective and easy to use.

So What’s Next

Now that I’ve completed all 50 states, I have to complete my visits to all 30 active Major League ballparks.  I am trying to decided whether to go to Texas as planned to see a game at the new Texas Rangers stadium and also for the 17^th time do the Hotter N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls. On the way back I would also see a game in Kansas City, leaving only one current ballpark left to visit—next year—the San Francisco Giants’ Oracle Park.  But I am still deciding if I want to go to Texas given the significant increase in virus cases there, even among the vaccinated.  If I don’t go to Texas I will not be able to get Kansas City because they will be away when I would go through there, so I’d still have three ballparks to get next year.

And what about a new cycling goal?  Having no goal sounds just right.  I’ll probably continue this year and next to ride with the Tuesday and Friday Bud Bike group out of Greenbelt, MD.  I don’t think I really want to do anymore long tours, but maybe a long weekend tour somewhere.  Basically my goal is just to enjoy riding.

I will post sometime in the next week a chart showing by year when I made my first ride (of at least 10 miles) in each state.  I’ve got years of cycling spreadsheets to research for that one.  I bet I’ll be surprised at some of the things I find.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed following my quest for 50 states as much as I enjoyed doing it, and bringing the blog to you.  And while I feel like this has been something of an accomplishment, I also am happy I'm done!

Bruce